Ministry of Reconciliation

2017-12-28

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

He is a New Creature

The word “therefore” is significant because this is a result of what the Bible told us immediately before this portion of scripture. The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:15: “And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” Jesus, the Son of God was “marred more than any man” (Isaiah 52:14), being put to death for us. We died with Him, and rose with Him, being seated with Him in the heavenly places. A total transformation took place, and we are no longer what we were. Because of the great exchange of the innocent for the guilty, we were raised from being dead in trespasses and sins, being born again unto a lively hope.

We are new creatures raised from eternal death to eternal life. At one time, we were living entirely for the flesh. This includes obtaining wealth, popularity, power, and all things centering on self. I knew of a bumper sticker from years ago that said that he who dies with the most toys wins. What stupidity. Everything in this life is going to vanish. Apart from Christ, the day we die is the day we enter into eternal death and suffering with no hope of escape.

When 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that we are new creatures, it came at a great cost. We could never enter the throne room of God in our sinful condition. God delivered His Son Jesus Christ to reconcile us to God. God’s most prized possession had to be butchered to give us eternal life. We had to be completely remade, and that is what God did by delivering His Son to the cross.

Behold, All Things Are Become New

Everything concerning our old man was crucified with Christ. All our sins were put away. He has “blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). He has “made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:12). We are “heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). He has “quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses” (Colossians 2:13). He sent us the Comforter who teaches us all things (John 14:26).

These are just a few of the things that make us “new.” But we cannot skip over those two little words: “all things.” It is not just a few things that became new, or even a lot of things; “all things are become new.” We have been separated from everything that was the old, unsaved us. The Bible says elsewhere, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Galatians 6:14).

If we take God’s message to us thus far at face value, we should look at living in this world in an entirely different way. We should feel the strong urge to live not as we did in the past for pleasure and wealth, but sojourn circumspectly in this world, and live for Christ, who bought us with His own blood. What if we really believed that we were new creatures, and lived that way? The way we live would be dramatically different.

All Things Are of God

This work of conversion was initiated entirely by God Himself. This great reconciliation was done completely by the work of Jesus Christ. We were alienated and separated from God, but now we were brought nigh by Christ’s blood.

Now that God made us new creatures by His reconciling of us to Him, He has given us a ministry.

Ministry of Reconciliation

God is in the business of reconciliation. First, he reconciled us to Himself via the blood of Jesus Christ. Also, the ministry we have received is a “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18). The phrase “to wit” in the following verse means that Paul is going to explain what this ministry is all about.

God’s method to reconciliation was by Christ’s work in his sacrifice for us, and taking the penalty of our sin away. Our role in this ministry is “the word of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Preaching the Gospel to the people around us is our role in reconciling the world to God. God always uses the preaching of the Word through His saints to get people saved. That is our job; we share the word of reconciliation with the lost world. As God did not impute sin upon any Old Testament saints before the crucifixion of Christ, we do the same, sharing the grace of God with others.

Nobody is saved without the Word. We could live in some Calvinist bubble somewhere and believe that God is just going to choose people to be saved, but we would be living a lie. If people do not share the gospel of Jesus Christ, zero people will be saved. It is our duty to share that “word of reconciliation.”

Ambassadors for Christ

Having the “ministry of reconciliation” makes us “ambassadors for Christ.” An ambassador for a country goes to another country as a diplomat, representing his own country, presenting conditions of amnesty to a lost world before the King’s coming. We represent God’s country in this world. It is for every Christian. However, you cannot be a true ambassador for Christ when you yourself are not reconciled to God. The Corinthians had tolerated a lot of sin in their congregation and undermined Paul’s authority. How could they preach to others about God’s reconciliation when they themselves were not walking with God and were at enmity with Paul? They must confess their sin and be restored to fellowship to fulfill their calling as ambassadors.

He Hath Made Him to Be Sin for Us

When we ought to be ambassadors for Christ, and our ministry is hindered because of personal sin, we need to recall exactly what Christ did for us. Let us consider the whole verse a piece at a time:

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

When it says that Jesus was made “to be sin for us,” Jesus did not become unclean, or wicked. He was a sin sacrifice for us. The judgment that you and I rightfully deserve was laid upon Jesus. If the beloved Son of God received the stripes and torment that we rightfully deserve, who are we to delay in being reconciled to God? We can expect “a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:27).

Because of the great exchange, the just suffering for the unjust (1 Peter 3:18), “we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” In other words, we can become His righteousness. We receive His righteousness the hour we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 3:21-22), but we also can be a manifestation of God’s righteousness in this world. We can be experientially righteous.